Parametric analysis of biodiesel synthesis from palm oil using homogenous base catalyst: experimental and numerical investigation

Triglyceride turned biodiesel is considered a promising and sustainable alternative for cleaner future energy demand due to its salient features, such as eco-friendly physicochemical characteristics. Lipid-enriched feedstock, like palm oil, is considered a prominent precursor for biodiesel synthesis. In the present research work, experimental work was carried out using a batch-type transesterification reactor for the conversion of palm oil into biodiesel using a homogenous KOH catalyst. In this study, an investigation was performed to establish the optimum ranking of experimental alternatives for biodiesel synthesis with the effective use of a novel hybrid Entropy-VIKOR approach. Additionally, the effect of transesterification reaction input parameters, i.e., catalyst loading, temperature of reaction, chemical interaction time, and methanol to lipid molar ratio, on output responses (yield, viscosity, and density) is analyzed using ANOVA with 3D surface plots and empirical relations. The major outcomes of experimental and numerical investigation revealed that optimum results (yield: 95.55%, viscosity: 4.3 cSt, and density: 879 kg/m³) of palm biodiesel are obtained at KOH catalyst loading of 1% (w/w), temperature of 60 °C, chemical interaction time of 90 minutes and methanol to lipid molar ratio of 5:1. The resulting composition of palm oil-based biodiesel have physicochemical characteristics within specified international standards. Finally, the produced biodiesel at optimum input reaction parameters opens a new window in the commercial sector with high yield and quality for its application in energy generation.